Essay: Impact
Prompt: Tell us about a time that you created impact on an individual, company or community? What did you learn from it? (300 words maximum)
Obviously, IESE is not looking for a story about a time that you did something that sort of impacted something or someone in a minor way for about a week.
IESE is looking for IMPACT, in a lasting and meaningful way.
The "impact" that you select tells IESE something about your values.
- Do you tell a personal story about one person whom you posivitely impacted? You might value focusing on individual people.
- Do you tell a professional story about impacting an organization in a way that is lasting and meaningful? You might be more focused on the big picture, managing how an organization can act most effectively.
- Do you tell a story about the community around you? You might be more aware of the world around you, and the business impact on the world.
Of course, many people's stories overlap two of these categories: personal/professional, personal/community, business/community. There is no wrong answer, but the story that you choose to tell does say something about you.
Here are some of the things that IESE hopes to learn about you.
"What are some of the tough choices you have made? ... How you have made a difference in your community? What is important to you in your life and why?" - IESE MBA Admissions
The second part of the prompt is, of course, equally important. What did you learn? If you made a truly major impact, then you will have brought away some lessons that you could share with your IESE classmates. Lessons include:
- What did you learn about yourself? This might include a personal or mental block that you learned to overcome.
- What did you learn to better an organizational behavior or a management structure? This might include an obstacle put up by others that you learned to break down or go around
- What did you learn about influencing others to cooperate or collaborate?
- What did you learn about influencing a larger group to change?
Essay: Short-term Career Goals and Why IESE
Prompt: What are your short-term and mid-term post-MBA goals? How will the IESE MBA program help you achieve them? (300 words maximum)
Begin by breaking down the essay question:
- What is your immediate career goal, just after you graduate from IESE? Tell them what job role that you seek; in which industry; and possibly your target companies. Tell them why this is your career goal (your motivation), and what experience and skills you will bring from your current professional experience.
- What is a slightly longer term career goal (meaning 5 years after your graduation from IESE)? Tell them why this is your goal. Please remember that IESE has a mission of developing "leaders who strive to have a deep, positive and lasting impact on people, companies and society through professional excellence, integrity and spirit of service," outside of the simple "I will go up the career ladder." Your goals should reflect the IESE mission.
- How will the IESE MBA help you achieve those goals?
For the last question, you should think of the answer in four ways:
- What skills or knowledge that you lack today that you need to pursue those goals?
- What skills or knowledge that you want to build upon that will help you achieve very ambitious goals? (You might achieve your goals on your own, but not as well or as easily.)
- What are IESE's specific offerings (courses, star professors, clubs, organizations, programs, events, etc.) that will help you gain what you lack or wish to build upon? How will you engage with those offerings to prepare to reach your goals? (Don't write a long list; focus on the offerings that you will really engage in and benefit from.)
Optional Essay
Prompt: What would you like to highlight about yourself or your journey which may have not been captured in your application? (300 words)
There are three ways to approach this essay. One way is to explain anything that Admissions Committee might consider to be a blemish on your application. Don't make them guess. This space can also be used to address any extenuating circumstances that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider. Use to address:
- Gaps in work experience
- Low GPA or inconsistent or questionable academic performance
- Low GMAT or GRE score
- Interruptions in academic career
- Difficult issues, such as an encounter with the law
Tell the Admissions Committee what happened and why it happened. Be honest in your self-evaluation. Most importantly, tell them what you have learned from a negative experience, and how this learning has influenced future actions.
You can also use the essay to address "gray areas," areas that are not actually a negative but that the Admissions Committee might question. This might include:
- Lack of work experience (less than five years) and explaining why you are not waiting to apply
- Almost to old for an MBA but too young for an executive degree
- Work for only one company
- Work for multiple companies in a short period of time (and you're not a consultant)
- Lack of international experience (an important issue for IESE)
- Lack of business experience (i.e., coming from the technology or engineering profession)
Use this essay to turn a potential weakness into a strength. Create a persuasive argument that you have valuable knowledge to bring to IESE. (You can always brainstorm with me.)
Another option is to use this essay to talk about something that you are proud of but cannot be found on your professional resume. Examples might be:
- if you worked your way through college, showing your work ethic and time management;
- conducted charitable actions that are not part of an official philanthropy, or took care of someone else, reflecting your empathy towards others;
- engaged in a hobby or activity that you excel at and demonstrates creativity, ingenuity, or hard work; or
- overcame difficulties or a tragedy that reflects your resilience
... anything that demonstrates a particular characteristic of yours.
Scholarship Essay
Prompt: How do you plan to finance your MBA and why do you think you deserve a scholarship? (500 words)
Tell the Admissions Committee how the scholarship will allow you to prepare for your post-MBA future. For example, if you are planning to become an entrepreneur in the future, or work for / start a non-profit, you will need to begin setting aside the funds today; a scholarship will help you to put more aside for your goals.